Starting device for internal-combustion engines.



B. I. LAMB. STARTING DEVICE FOR INTERN-AL COIVIBUSIION ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED 00T.23, 1912.

1,078,151, Patented Nv.11,1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

' B. 1. LAMB. STARTING DEVICE FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES.

APPLICATION FILED 0CT.23, 1912. 1,078,151. .Patented N0v.11,1913.

l 2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

5144x144 to@ vUruirnn srArEs PATENT OFFICE.

BULRT I. LAMB, OF NORWALK, OHIO, 'ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF T0 HARRY It. MASONQOF MONROEVILLE, OHIO.

STARTING nnvrcn Fon 4IN'JJERNA-1.4.:oilnms'rron ENGINES.

' 'Specification of Letters-Patent.

Application led October 23, 1912. Serial No. 727,461.

Patented Nov. 11, 1913.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, BUR'r I. LAMB, aciti! zen of the United States, residing at No rwalk, State of Ohio, have invented certain new andu'seful Improvement-s in 'Starting gines and is particularly designed for the purpose of starting automobilwngines to the same.l v The inventlonconslsts of certaln mechaavoid the necessity of manually cranking' nismwhereby compressed air or other suit'- able motive fluid is utilized to start thev en'- gme. f 1

- Furthermore means are provided for preventing injury to the mechanismdu'e to the back-fire of the engine.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof, and the novel feat-ure of ,the invention will be distinctly pointed out in the ap ended claims. i

In the drawings li e characters of refer-4 ence indicate corresponding parts.

Figure l is a side elevation of a'device constructed in accordance with my invention, part bein shown in section, Fig. 2 is a plan View o Fig. 1, a part thereof alsoV belng shown in sectlon, Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional elevation, taken on line 3,-3 of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a side elevation, o an enlarged scale, of a gearring mounte Fig. 5 is a side elevation, ori an enlarged scale, 0f the driving gear land its releaslng means in case of back-fire of the engine, Fig. 6` is a face view of Fig. 5.', part being broken away, and Fig. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the means for preventin the starting of the engine unless the spee lever is in neutral position.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a base which is provided with longitudinal guides 2 for'slidably supporting a carriage consisting of a )air of rectangular frames 3 and 4 arranged lation and connected together at-t eir ends as indicated at 5. The base of the carriage is provided with lateral yfeet 6 at its ends for supporting it on the guides 2.' The under face of the upper .side 7 of the rectangular frame 3 is provided with rack on its disks,

side by side in s aced regear ring 9, and the upper faceof the lower side 10 of the rectangular frame 4 with teeth 11 for meshing with a like (gear ring 12.

on its disk when the carriage is reciprocated in the opposite direction, the lfollowing means are provided., The periphery of said disk 13.is recessed at 18 for receivin rollers or balls l 19, Which will act .as we ges for locking the gear ring to the disk when the 'gear ring is rotated counter clockwise, but allow the gear ring to revolve freely in the opposite dlrection. 'The disk, on whichis mounted the'gear ring 12, is similarly re'- cessed for carrying rollers and it will be noted that as the rack teeth 11 of the rectangular frame 4 are on its lower side 10 instead of the upper side 7 as in the other frame 3, thegear ring 12 will be alternately rotated in the reverse direction to the gear ring 9. Consequently there is a continuous rot-ation of 'the transverse shaft 14 in one direction. The rollers are retained within the'recesses 18 lof 'the disks 13 by means of circular. plates 20 which are fixed to the sides of the gear rings as indicated at 21.

The rotation of the transverse shaft 14 is transmitted t-o the internal-combustion enginecrank shaft, and danger to the mechanism on account of back-fire of the en ine is obviated by the following means. A isk 22 is rotatably mounted on the transverse shaft 14 and loosely mounted on said disk is a driving gear 23, which is recessed as lshown at 24 for fitting over said disk. A

iange 231L is fixed tothe outer side of said gear 23 for keeping same on the disk. The disk has an elongatedhub 331and is provided With a feather-key a241 which is adapted to slide in a key-way`141of the shaft 14.

By slidingv the disk 22 longitudinally, the

driving gear 23 is adapted to be thrown into engagement with a gear 32 rigidly secured to the rim 33 ofthe flywl1eel of the inter- ,tgeni s for meshing with the teeth of a nal-combustion engine for starting same.

The disk-is made to turn th'e gear 23 as follows. A pawl 25 is pivoted at 26 to the side of the disk 22 and its vnose 27 is normally vheld against an abutment pin 28projecting Ifrom the side of the driving gear 23 by 7 means ofa coiledl spring 29 which is: connected to the curved arm 30 of the pawl Y and has its other end att-ached to'a pin 31 fixed in the side of the disk 22. The pawl is limited against the-"action of 'the the rim ofthe fly-whe'elby any' suitable means. As shown, the disk 22 #is provided `with an elongated'hub'3314 having a groove 34for;receiving a collar 35, which is fixed to a slotted arm 36 slidably 'connected to the upturned end 37 of an operating lrod '38.

' Said rod being connected to an automatic timer.

lThe compressed air 'mechanism vfor actuating the carriage vwill now be described.

Located on the rear end of the base 1 jand in alinement with the travel of thel carriage is a power cylinder 39' in which' is slidably mounted a piston 40 having a piston rod 41 which is`connected to the rear endof the carriage as indicated at 42; The inletand exhaust tothe power cylinder is controlledl by means-'of a slidelvalve 43 'arranged in a longitudinal chamber'44 above the cylinder, andthe inlet and exhaust to said vchamber is governed by a controlling valve'45 slidably mounted yin va bore 46 lateral ofthechamber 44 and actuated by the carriage.`

The controlling valve 45 is fixed to a valve stem 47 having its free end slidably mounted in a holethrough "a bracket arm 48 which is secured to the-rear end of thev carriage. The valve stem 47 f is threaded at eea h side of the bracket ar4m248 as shown atw 9 and y50 for carrying stop nuts 51 and 52`i lwhich may be so adjusted on the valve stem as to be engaged bythe bracket arm for'impartingl proper movement to the controlling valve 45. i

' The valve'chamberl 44 is formed in three sections having di'erentv diametersas indicated at 53, 54 and 55, and the slide valve 43' is made with three corresponding heads 56, 57 and 58 'to give different pressure areas for 'a purp e as will be hereinafter explained. port 59 establishes communication between the valve chamber section 54 .and the forward end of the power cylinder 39, and a similar port 60 between thevalve chamber section andthe rear end of the cylinder. The valve-head 58 is hollowed out from its-free` end at 61 and anopening 62 in its lower wall is adapted to reg# ister with theport to allow the escape of the exhaustfrom .the rear end of the power cylinder 39 -at the proper time. The inlet pipe is represented by 63, which is connected withthe inlet64 having a port 65 leading tothe rear end of the valve; chamber section 54 and another port 66 extending to the rear end` of the controlling valve bore-46.` The' controlling valve 45 is prvided with a longitudinal channel 67,

which extends-therethroughto permit communication from the inlet port 66 throu h a conduit 68' to the forward endof t e vvalve chamber section 53. An exhaust port 69 leads from 'the valve chamber section 53' to an exhaustpipe 70, and an exhaust port 71 from the valvechambersection 55 to said exhaust pipe.I "Also exhaust from the valve chamber section 53 to the exhaust port 69 takes place through an exhaust passage 72 leading to the controlling valve bore 46, and an, exhaust passage 73 extending therefrom to said exhaust port. The controlling valve 45 beingprovided with a saucer shaped recess 74 vfor connectingthe exhaust passages 72 and 73 atthe'proper time.

A general descriptiony of the operation of the above described mechanism follows: Assuming that'the parts are as shown in Figs. 1 and 2,l the compressed air is admitted through the inlet pipe 63 to the inlet 64, then passes through Athe fort 65 and the port 60 to the rear end o the power cylinder A39 to drive the piston 40 forward and thereby movethe carria e comprising the frames 3`and 4 in the irection indicated by the' arrow 17. v The rack teeth 8'ofmthe frame 3 will rotate the gear ring 9 counter clockwise, and throughthe wedging action of the rollers 19 will drive the disk 13 and the shaft 14 fixed thereto in the same direction. This motion will be im` parted to the disk 22 which is keyed to said shaft, and to the gear 23 through the medium of the pawl 25. As the gear 23 is in mesh with the gear 32 on the engine fly-wheel, the crank shaft of the engine will be rotated in the roperV direction for starting the engine. t will be understood that when the frame-3 is driving the shaft 14,

lthe gear ring 12 revolves freely on its disk enters thecontrolling valve bore 46 through the port 66, then by way of the channel 67 and the conduit 68 to the section 53 of the valve chamber 44, and acting upon the head 56"ho1ds the valve43 in the position shown. When the carriage islalmost to the limit of its forward. movement, the bracket arm 48 engages the stop nuts 51 and causes the controlling valve 45 to move forward, therevalve 43 movesV forward, its head 57 passes to the other side of the port 59,- the air between the heads 56 and 57 'escaping by-way of the exhaust passage 69, and its head 58 uncovers the exhaust passage7l while the opening 62 of the head 58 registers with the port 60, thus the inlet pressure 'passes through the port 59 to the forward end of the power cylinder 39 'and drives the piston l() toward n the rear end 'of the c linder. When the carriage is almost to the imit of its return stroke, the bracket armi48 strikes the stop nuts 52 and the controlling valve 45 is moved to its original position as shown. The pressure on the head 56 will also force the slide valve 43 to its original position as shown, and as the exhaust-passage 7l is cut off by the head 58, the Vconined'air will serve as a cushion for that end of the slide valve.

v It will be apparent that so long as the vcompressed air or other suitable 'uid is admitted to the inlet 63, the'above operations will continue for properly starting aninternal combustion engine. After the engine has been started the gear 23 may be thrown out of engagement with the gear 32 in the. usual manner.

In order that the compressed air may not be turnedton to operate the startingmechanism except when the speed lever is in its neutral position, the following means` are provided: Referring to Fig.v 7, the iiooring of an automobile is represented by 75, and

Athe operating shaft by 76 having fixed thereto the speed hand lever 77 which passes through a slot 78 in the iiobring. A curved notched bar 79 isv secured to the underside of the flooring, anda locking' rod 80 slidably mounted on the hand lever 77 is adapted to be actuated by the finger lever 81 and lock the hand lever to the curved notched bar 79 in the well known manner.` Fixed to the operating shaft 76 'is a stop block 82 which is provided withva recess 83 in its upper edge. A bell-crank 84 ris pivoted to a. bracket -85 depending froml the flooring 7 5, one arm of which terminates iny a threaded boss 86 for carrying an adjustable screw 87 whichengages the recess 83 of the stop 'block 82, when the speed lever 77 is in neutral position, and the screw 87 may then -bc forced downwardly by foot pressure on its head 88 to cause the other arm of the bell-crank 84 to act against the stem 89 of a plunger valve 90 which is ar'- ranged in the supply pipe 9].. When the speed lever `77is in any other than neutral position, the screw 87 rests` on the top edge of the stop block 82 and therefore cannot be forced downwardly to operate they valve 90.

Although the elements set forth and described are well adapted to serve the intended purpose, itis'to be understood that 'to the rst mentioned shaft, the driving gear being cupped out from one side and loosely mounted on said disk, a pawl pivoted to the outery face of said-disk andl normally rest-ing on the irst mentioned shaft, apin projecting from the driving gear, and a coiled spring connected to the pawl and the outer i face of said disk at the opposite side of the first mentioned shaft from the pivot point of the pawl for normally holding said pawl against said pin to drive the gear in one direction but' allow it to freely revolve in the opposite direction in case ofl back-tire of the engine, substantially as described. 2. In a starting device for an internV combustion engine, the combination of a carriage, means for imparting a reciprocating movement to the carriage, a rack carried by the carriage, a shaft, a disk fixed to the shaft, the disk being provided'with recesses in its periphery, a gear ring'loosely mounted on the disk and in engagement with said rack, rollers in the recesses of said disk for causing thegear ring to rotate said disk when the gear ring is revolved in one direction, a gear loosely mounted on said shaft and adapted to mesh with a gear fixed to the crank shaft of theengine, a second disk keyed to said shaft, a pawl pivoted to the second disk, a pin projecting from the first mentioned gear, and a spring for,A normally holding said pawl .against said pin to drive the gear in one direction but allow it to freely revolve in the opposite direction in case of back-fire of the engine, substantially as described.l f if l 3. 'In va starting device for an internal-y combustion engine, the combination of a carringe, l,means for imparting a. reciprocating movement to the carriage, a shaft, means for continuously rotating the shaft in one direction from the reciprocating movement of the rection but allow it to freely revolve in the carriage, a disk feather keyed to said shaft opposite direction in case of the back-lire of forrotating the same but permitting longithe engine, substantially as. described.

tudinal movement thereon, a gear loosely In testimony whereof I aflix my signature mounted on said disk and adapted to mesh in presence of witnesses.

with a gear fixed to the crank shaft of the BURT I. LAMB. engine, a pawl pivoted to said disk, a pin Witnesses:

projecting from -the first mentioned gear, W. R. PRUNER, v

and a spring for normally holding said pavvl J. H. WILLIAMS,

10 against said pin to drive the gear. in one d1 LILLm SARGENT. 

